Crimes Against Magic: The Hellequin Chronicles, Book 1

How do you keep the people you care about safe from enemies you can't remember? Ten years ago, Nate Garrett awoke on a cold warehouse floor with no memory of his past and the only clues to his identity were a piece of paper with his name on it and a propensity toward magic. Now he's a powerful sorcerer and a successful thief for hire, but it turns out that those who stole his memories aren't done with him yet. When they cause a job to go bad, threatening a sixteen-year-old girl, Nate swears to protect her.

Blood: Mercian Trilogy, Book 1

"I do not remember being bitten. I wish I did, for then I would know the creature who did this to me and I would have a purpose, to track him down and repay him for the poisoned gift he gave me." Back in the Thirteenth Century, Will was destined to be Earl of Mercia, although he never lived to inherit his title. In the centuries that follow, Will has led a lonely life, learning to deal with whatever the present day throws at him, always searching for answers but never finding any.

The Glittering Court: The Glittering Court, Book 1

Big and sweeping, spanning the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.

Bound: An Alex Verus Novel

Alex Verus can see the future. But he never thought he'd see this day. Manoeuvred by forces beyond his control, the probability mage has made a terrible choice: he's agreed to work for his old master once more. Richard Drakh, the sadistic dark mage Alex escaped as an apprentice, has him in his clutches again. And this time he won't let go so easily.

Fated: Alex Verus, Book 1

Camden, North London. A tangled, mangled junction of train lines, roads and waterways. Where minor celebrities hang out with minor criminals and where tourists and moody teenagers mingle. In the heart of Camden, where rail meets road meets leyline, you might find the Arcana Emporium, run by one Alex Verus. He won't sell you a wand or mix you a potion, but if you know what you're looking for, he might just be able to help.

The Midnight Queen

In the hallowed halls of Oxford's Merlin College, the most talented - and highest born - sons of the Kingdom of Britain are taught the intricacies of magickal theory. But what dazzles can also destroy, as Gray Marshall is about to discover.... Gray's deep talent for magick has won him a place at Merlin College. But when he accompanies four fellow students on a mysterious midnight errand that ends in disaster and death, he is sent away in disgrace - and without a trace of his power.

The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter

Elizabeth Barnabus lives a double life - as herself and as her brother, the private detective. She is trying to solve the mystery of a disappearing aristocrat and a hoard of arcane machines. In her way stand the rogues, freaks and self-proclaimed alchemists of a travelling circus. But when she comes up against an agent of the all-powerful Patent Office, her life and the course of history will begin to change. And not necessarily for the better.

Blood of the Earth: Soulwood, Book 1

When Nell Ingram met skinwalker Jane Yellowrock, she was almost alone in the world, exiled by both choice and fear from the cult she was raised in, defending herself with the magic she drew from her deep connection to the forest that surrounds her. Now, Jane has referred Nell to PsyLED, a Homeland Security agency policing paranormals, and agent Rick LaFleur has shown up at Nell's doorstep.

The Mountains Rise: Embers of Illeniel, Book 1

**See author's note on adult content below.** From the dark depths of the past, comes the tale of the first wizard of Illeniel. Daniel Tennick lived simply, a young shepherd with few troubles and little to occupy his mind, until the warden appeared. Daniel's power awakens, and he finds himself hunted by the servants of the cruel and uncaring forest gods. Trapped by his gift, Daniel will uncover the secrets of the deep woods and those who live there, a civilization created from the grave of an older one.

Schooled in Magic

Emily is a teenage girl pulled from our world into a world of magic and mystery by a necromancer who intends to sacrifice her to the dark gods. Rescued in the nick of time by an enigmatic sorcerer, she discovers that she possesses magical powers and must go to Whitehall School to learn how to master them. There, she learns that the locals believe she is a "Child of Destiny" - someone whose choices might save or damn their world, a title that earns her both friends and enemies.

Rune of the Apprentice

In a world where magic, technology, and nature have merged, the few who can control Runes hold dominance over all of creation. All believe that Aleksi, a 16-year-old orphan, was blessed to be born with a Rune embedded in his palm, but that's only because they don't know the truth - Aleksi's Rune is so powerful it's killing him.

The Undead: Part 1

A deadly infection spreads across Europe. The Undead series: a terrifying account of one man desperately struggling to survive this harrowing event day by day. Part one - days one to three. Howie is at home on a rare Friday night off work when an infection which has rapidly spread across Europe hits his hometown on the South Coast of England. Luck sees him through the first night when many others are taken down and infected, only to rise again as the undead.

Cruel Crown: Two Red Queen Novellas

Two women on either side of the Silver-Red divide tell the stories no one else knows. Queen Song : Queen Coriane, first wife of King Tiberias, keeps a secret diary - how else can she ensure that no one at the palace will use her thoughts against her? Coriane recounts her heady courtship with the crown prince; the birth of a new prince, Cal; and the potentially deadly challenges that lay ahead for her in royal life.

The Fire Sermon

When Zach and I were born, our parents must have counted and recounted: limbs, fingers, toes. The complete set. They would have been disbelieving - nobody dodged the split between Alpha and Omega. Nobody. Born as twins. Raised as enemies. One strong Alpha twin and one mutated Omega; the only thing they share is the moment of their death. The Omegas live in segregation, cast out by their families, as soon as their mutations become clear.

Rivers of London: PC Peter Grant, Book 1

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit--we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to--and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May.

How to Be a Vigilante: A Diary

It's 1998. The Internet age is still in its infancy. Google has just been founded. Eighteen-year-old supermarket shelf-stacker Nigel Carmelite has decided that he's going to become a vigilante. There are a few problems: how is he going to even find crime to fight on the streets of Derbyshire? How will he create a superhero costume - and an arsenal of crime-fighting weaponry - on a shoestring budget?

Relentless

Sara Grey's world shattered 10 years ago when her father was brutally murdered. Now, at 17, she is still haunted by memories of that day and driven by the need to understand why it happened. She lives a life full of secrets, and her family and friends have no idea of the supernatural world she is immersed in or of Sara's own very powerful gift. In her quest for answers about her father's death, Sara takes risks that expose her and her friends to danger and puts herself into the sights of a sadistic vampire.

The Magicians, Book 1

In a secret world of forbidden knowledge, power comes at a terrible price.... Quentin Coldwater's life is changed forever by an apparently chance encounter: when he turns up for his entrance interview to Princeton, he finds his interviewer dead - but a strange envelope bearing Quentin's name leads him down a path very different from any he'd ever imagined.

The Oversight

Only five still guard the borders between the worlds. Only five hold back what waits on the other side. Once the Oversight, the secret society that polices the lines between the mundane and the magic, counted hundreds of brave souls among its members. Now their number can be tallied on a single hand. When a drunkard brings a screaming girl to the Oversight's London headquarters, it seems their hopes for a new recruit will be fulfilled - but the girl is a trap, her appearance a puzzle the five remaining guardians must solve or lose each other, and their society, for good.

The Witch's Daughter: Shadow Chronicles, Book 1

My name is Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, and my age is 384 years. Each new settlement asks for a new journal, and so this Book of Shadows begins... In the spring of 1628, the Witchfinder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from the same fate at the hands of the panicked mob: the Warlock Gideon Masters, and his Book of Shadows.

London Falling: The Shadow Police, Book One

Detective Inspector James Quill is about to complete the drugs bust of his career. Then his prize suspect, Rob Toshack, is murdered in custody. Furious, Quill pursues the investigation, co-opting intelligence analyst Lisa Ross and undercover cops Costain and Sefton. But nothing about Toshack's murder is normal. Toshack had struck a bargain with a vindictive entity, whose occult powers kept Toshack one step ahead of the law - until his luck ran out. Now, the team must find a 'suspect' who can bend space and time and alter memory itself. And they will kill again.

The Wolves of London: Obsidian Heart, Book 1

Alex Locke is a reformed ex-con forced into London's criminal underworld for one more job. He agrees to steal a priceless artefact - a human heart carved from the blackest obsidian - but when the burglary goes horribly wrong, Alex is plunged into the nightmarish world of the Wolves of London, unearthly assassins who will stop at nothing to reclaim the heart. As he races to unlock the secrets of the mysterious object, Alex must learn to wield its dark power - or be destroyed by it.

Chasing Embers: A Ben Garston Novel

There's nothing special about Ben Garston. He's just a guy with an attitude in a beaten-up leather jacket, drowning his sorrows about his ex in a local bar. Or so he'd have you believe. What Ben Garston can't let you know is that he's also known as Red Ben. He can't let you know that the world of myth and legend isn't as make-believe as you think, and it's his job to keep that a secret. And there's no way he can let you know what's really hiding beneath his skin....

The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas

Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom's most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful and ruthless Assassin's Guild, Celaena yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer for hire, Sam. When Celaena's scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes - and questioning her own allegiance. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies alike, and discovers that she feels far more for Sam than just friendship.

Publisher's Summary

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Half Bad by Sally Green, a breathtaking debut novel about one boy's struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches. Read by the actor Carl Prekopp.

You can't read, can't write, but you heal fast, even for a witch.

You get sick if you stay indoors after dark. You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one. You've been kept in a cage since you were fourteen. All you've got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday. Easy.

Sally Green lives in north-west England. She has had jobs (paid and unpaid) and even a profession but at last has found the time to write down the stories she used to only be able to daydream about. She likes to read, walk in the country and would like to drink less coffee. Half Bad is her first novel.

I haven't actually finished this yet, but am enjoying it so much that I felt the need to review it. This is partly due to the excellent narration by Carl Prekopp. It's an article of faith with me that I'd rather listen to a bad book with a great narrator than a good book with a poor one.

It starts right inside Nathan's mind in a shockingly brutal scene and takes up the story in flashback. The picture of the magical world is naturalistic and convincing. Things are only revealed gradually via the protagonist's experience so there's no long exposition about witch society.

It's traditional in these reviews of compare books to other books, isn't it? So let's go with Harry Potter crossed with Kes.

If you enjoy supernatural young adult fiction set in Britain and also like Carl Prekopp's narration, I highly recommend you check out the Mercian trilogy: Blood, Alchemy and Death.

Wow, do I feel lucky to have stumbled on this. Not only a great story, but a great story superbly narrated! When I was, appropriately enough, half way through this book, I decided I would write a review. Well, not so much a review (as this is one story that deserves to be approached as unspoiled as it is possible to be in this day and age) rather a maxxed out stars plus a few more stars for good luck - recommendation. I love reading tales where the author clearly has a complete understanding of the world the characters inhabit; and a complete understanding of all the characters, no matter how much or little is revealed to the reader. This is the epitome of that; and I enjoyed every moment of living with Nathan and his family, friends and enemies. Carl Prekopp does this story justice and then some. I haven't been this impressed by a narrator since listening to David Thorpe read Karen Maitland's Company of Liars. It's an amazing tour de force. Oh my, I am gushing, aren't I? Okay, okay. There is one thing that gets on my nerves and it's this. (Some might consider this a spoiler; I'd call it a caution...) The book has an abrupt "... and then..." climax, assuming you'll be back for the next. At time of writing, the Kindle edition of the sequel, Half Wild, isn't due until 5 March 2015 - aaargh! Hopefully the audiobook will be released simultaneously and some thoughtful person has already booked Carl Prekopp for a recording session. It's such a good story, though, that I'm going to forgive being left hanging just this once; but if such apparent complacency is the sort of thing that drives you up the wall then you might want to wait until just before the next book is published to start on this. It'll be worth the wait. But I wouldn't have the willpower to hold off after reading / listening to (I frequently found myself reading the text along with the audiobook - I didn't want to be racing through it by reading alone) the first few paragraphs. You'll love it. Seriously. It's that good.

Brilliantly crafted trilogy that draws you in to the characters: by the way it's uniquely written in the first person from a spoken diary. Add this to the amazing reader and audible sound effects that appear more in the following two books, which were not over done- makes these the best audible books I have read since joining three years ago. Had to buy additional credits because I couldn't wait as I became emotionally invested into the character. You must read all three books in order.

I really got into this story , now impatient for the 3rd book.A bit like Harry Potter in that a boy is growing up without parents. His father is the dark and his mother the light. Prophecy about what he will do when he grows but treated badly as people expect the dark side of his nature to win out. This eventually polarises the people around him.

Take a boy and make hims caredscar his back and make him blackkill his mother give him dreadmix this and that with the wing of batmake him run make him lovecook some children on a stovethe money calls for more bloodand that, could never be bad chase the boy, and make a dealo what a thrill to make a meal of nothing at all, and then make sequelthat is the exact equal of nothing at all

To take Harry Potter add more dread and horror and blood till it will only be readable by 17+, is a clever marketing idea, and could work well because the writer is dynamic in its delivery and has a lot potential but this book is only the first part of a serialise vehicle that can not stand on its own; of a myriad of plot questions only one is resolved everything else is left hanging mid air. You are expected to pay more good money to get the hole story. Steven King serialised The Green Mile and I gladly paid for each booklet because that was the agreement. I loved getting the next instalment and reading it; he had not finish the book, he was writing it as we paid for every part; but when it was finished he sold the entire book as a book. If you are happy to pay for a and inconclusive story and are informed that that is what you are getting, fine. but to end the book in a cliffhanger is not fair to readers. You have been informed.

The beginning of this book was so boring that I started it and then I had to stop 4 or 5 times before I managed to finish it! Only when I had gone about 3 quarters through the book that I found it a bit more bearable! Also I found it very cruel. The things that was done to that young boy was so sad! If there is a sequel I cannot imagine listening to it unless it was free of charge.

I have to give kudos to Sally Green: Half Bad is extremely original in plot, characterization, and style. Told in a freeform stream of consciousness, the writing fits perfectly to a story of complete and utter hopelessness. But at the same time, the book is so unrepentantly mean, so completely lacking in any person with any redeeming qualities, that this becomes a form of torture porn. Bad guys are evil and the good guys are evil - we have non stop scenes of every nearly every form of abuse imaginable (save sexual, oddly). That pervasive purgatory of dread and meanness did make for a difficult read (or listen in this case, due to an Audible experience). Any time I stopped, it was very difficult to pick this back up again.

Story: Nathan is half white witch and half black witch. Trapped between the bitter war of the two, he is viewed with disdain, disgust, and suspicion. Will he turn out like his 'evil' black witch father or turn to his mother's 'good' white witch powers? As the day his powers will manifest nears, the council of white witches tighten the noose on Nathan, taking the torture and physical abuse to new levels in their certainty that he will turn to the black. By the time Nathan falls for a pretty young white witch, the council's final solution on keeping him controlled is to put him in a cage all night with beatings all day. Nathan knows he must escape and find his father - and learn who he really is, white or black.

Author Green resists making Nathan completely good or a martyr - he is mostly an anti-hero in which we sympathize with the horrors of his life. The book is about taking his bad situation and making it much, much worse with each page turn. Nathan's resentment, anger, bitterness, and resilience are the heart of the story; he can't read, is greatly restricted, and only through innate healing powers manages to survive to see the new day. As he nears his 16th birthday, and will commit fully to white or black witch, the white council of witches enact succeedingly more draconian measures to ensure they don't end up with another black witch on par with Nathan's father. It's about one evil deed on that kid after another.

Those expecting the white witches to be evil and the black to be actually the good guys will need to read another book. Pretty much everyone is selfish, vicious, and willing to kill or hurt to their own aims. For me, it was a bit too heavy and I needed a story with more redeeming characters. As well, nearly every situation in the book is set up so that Nathan is beaten, tortured, or betrayed. Even the love triangle near the end telegraphed far too clearly how Nathan's situation is going to take even worse turns as he learns to trust and love (both weapons). By the end, I was glad the book was finished and just wasn't interested in continuing. It was too depressing and dark for my tastes.

I listened to the Audible version of this book and the narrator did an excellent job - it's a story that could have been greatly ruined by a lesser talent.

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